Keyed
by ForRomance
Summary: BB fic based on a hilarious bit of Grey's Anatomy... Christina and Burke at their best. Couldn't help myself! T just in case, but just mentionings. : D DISCLAIMER: And of course I own nothing but my humble computer and some season DVDs. How sad.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing but my humble computer and some season DVDs. How sad.

**A/N: **I really wish they had a special section for entering in disclaimers and author's notes when you go to publish a story. Or maybe they do and I need to get my contact lens prescription upped...

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He knew all of this about her when it started. He knew how stubborn she was, how untrusting and restrained she could be, and he loved her all the same. He knew that it wouldn't always be easy, but then, had it ever been? With them it was always give-and-take, fifty-fifty - and he wouldn't have it any other way.

It had been six months now that Booth and Brennan had been involved as more than partners, more than friends. Booth knew she didn't want to define it, but he considered them to be dating. He didn't just come to the lab for cases anymore, but to take her out to lunch (when he could get her away from another set of bones). There was rarely a night they didn't spend together, typically stumbling in the door ripping each other's clothes off after another sexually-charged day at work. In the field or the lab, he would purposefully stand too close to her and wait for her to get flustered (as she always did). And she would whisper suggestively into his ear when no one was around to hear, causing him to swallow nervously and refuse to meet her eyes lest he take her right there. But beyond their obvious passion, there was depth to what they had, even in the small things. She didn't tell him off for putting his hand at the small of her back, a move that would previously have elicited lectures on unwelcome alpha-male tendencies. And the way she looked at him sometimes… he could see in her eyes that she truly did love him, even though she'd be the last to admit it.

So one morning, as Booth watched the peaceful sleeping form of his partner, he started to think about their situation. For the past month, they had spent almost every night at his apartment. She had slept - just slept - over when he had Parker, even, and he could tell by watching the two of them interact that she wasn't as bad with kids as she claimed. She kept clothes in his closet now, because it was so much less of a hassle than having to go back to her own apartment for clothes in the morning. And in his kitchen cabinet, he now had her favorite breakfast cereal - surprisingly, Froot Loops. He could sense the domesticity of their current arrangement, and he couldn't help but wish she could just call his apartment home.

He was distracted from his pondering by the sound of the alarm clock. Next to him, Brennan groaned and rolled to the side of the bed to turn it off. She turned back to Booth with a smile on her face, and said, "Good morning."

He just smiled and brought his lips to hers for a gentle kiss. He pulled back, smiled again, and asked, "Coffee?"

"Yes, please," she yawned, stretching her arms over her head.

When he came back in, she had already gotten dressed, and was standing at the dresser putting on a necklace. He came up behind her, placing the coffee and a key on top of the dresser. His arms wrapped around her and he started kissing her neck.

"Seeley," she laughed. "Seeley, come on we have to get going." And then she reached for her coffee, and froze.

"What is this?" she asked in a stiff voice.

Her tone caused Booth to pause in his actions.

"A key," he said, tentatively.

"Why?"

"Why is it a key? Are we feeling existential this morning?" he joked, hoping to lighten the now darkening mood.

She stalked away from him to the front hall, bag in hand.

"Well, if the key turns in a lock, and no one asked for the key or even wanted the key, does it make a sound?" And she slammed the door on her way out.

Booth remained standing in the bedroom, frozen in disbelief. "What did I do wrong?" he wondered aloud.

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I'm not going to ask you to review... but if you don't I'll sic Brennan on you after someone's hit on Booth. Now that sounds scary.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: **Same old, I own nothing, woe is me.

**A/N:** It's 3 am... so really, what the hell am I still doing up?

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He was anxious to talk to her, but unfortunately they had each taken their own cars to his apartment the night before. And Cullen kept him in his office up to his neck in paperwork, so he knew he could only talk to her if he called her at lunchtime.

Of course, he should have known she'd be avoiding him. The line rang and rang, and he finally resorted to leaving a message on her machine.

"Look, Temperance, I don't really understand why you got so angry at me for leaving that key. Is it so weird to think that we could move in together? You're at my apartment almost every night, and your clothes are here… I just want you to move in with me." He sighed audibly. "Call me when you get this, please, Tempe." And then he hung up.

Brennan was working through lunch as usual, so she was in her office when Booth called. And of course, she screened his call. She sighed in exasperation as her prerecorded voice began telling him to leave a message, dreading what he was about to say.

"Sweetie, why aren't you taking your lunch break?"

The voice that had spoken was not Booth, and it was coming from only a few yards away. Angela was leaning against her doorway, arms crossed and with a determined look on her face. But as she was about to speak again, Booth's voice came from the answering machine on Brennan's desk.

"_Look, Temperance, I don't really understand why you got so angry at me for leaving that key. Is it so weird to think that we could move in together? You're at my apartment almost every night, and your clothes are here… I just want you to move in with me. Call me when you get this, please, Tempe._"

Brennan winced, knowing what was coming next.

"He asked you to move in with him?!!" Angela shouted, storming forward to the desk.

Brennan looked up at her friend, and said meekly, "Yes."

"Well, sweetie, why didn't you accept his offer?" Angela asked, gently pulling Brennan up by the hand and leading her to the couch.

Brennan sighed. "I just- I don't know why we should."

It was Angela's turn to sigh. "Let me put it to you in a way you'll understand it, since apparently a hot FBI agent isn't a good enough reason for you. In logical terms, you spend almost every waking minute together, and then you spend the night together. Um… you could save money on rent if you're sharing a place, you could spend less on gas by carpooling." She sighed again. "And sweetie, he loves you. And you love him, right?"

"Yeah," Brennan replied quietly. "I think I do."

"So then what the hell are you waiting for? Don't you think moving in with him makes sense now?"

"Yeah, I guess it does," Brennan said, a small smile on her face.

"Good." Angela said contentedly, her work for the day now complete. "And since you just decided to move in with him, I'm not even going to bust you for working through lunch." She grinned at her friend and sauntered out of the room.

As the day wore on, Booth still hadn't heard back from Brennan. And despite himself, he was starting to get a bit pissed off. She had opened up to him so much since the start of their relationship, and now it seemed like all of their communication had been lost. But had he rushed her into this? He hated to think he was forcing something she didn't want.

All of his stressing had gotten him distracted from the casework piled on his desk. He finally decided to head out around 7, unable to stew in his office any longer. He got into his SUV and drove home, alternating between mentally berating himself for being so hasty and being annoyed at her for not talking to him. He tried turning on the radio, but that only got him more annoyed, just because he hated listening to the disk jockeys bantering on. All in all, he was pretty steamed as he pulled into the parking spot in front of his apartment.

And there, sitting on the front steps, was Brennan. She just looked at him as he stepped out of the car and made is way over to her. Soon, he was standing in front of her, and she still just stared at him. The silence grew deafening, and he finally just stepped back and started pacing, trying desperately to release the tension in his body. He paced back and forth until he felt her hand on his arm, and he finally knew what he wanted to say. Brennan gently released his arm as he turned to face her.

Booth's eyes met hers, and he breathed out in anger.

"I am Seeley Booth, an ex-sniper and special agent. I am a professional and more than that, I am a good and kind person. I am a person that cleans up behind myself. I am a person that cooks well. And you, you are an insufferable know-it-all. An over-confident, self-involved anthropologist. I am Seeley Booth. And you, you are the most competitive, most guarded, most challenging person I have ever met. And I love you. What the hell is the matter with you that you won't just let me?"

Brennan gazed right into his eyes, and said, "I gave up my apartment twenty minutes ago."

He paused, almost in shock as he searched her face in disbelief. But as his eyes met hers again, he saw the look in her eyes, the one that let him know just how much she cared.

And so he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him and muttering, "Well, alright then." And he captured her lips in a deep kiss that told her she had made the right decision.

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Hope you enjoyed this! It was fun to write, although I'm not quite sure if i went in the right direction... I had only written the last paragraph before I started. Let me know!


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